


I’ll Always Be Around

by just_an_average_human



Series: The world’s gonna pass me by [1]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Gen, It’s another ghost fic, No Relationship, The band doesn’t exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24987481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_an_average_human/pseuds/just_an_average_human
Summary: When Geoff and Otto move into a new apartment, the landlady informs them of a third bedroom that cannot be unlocked. A month after they settle in, strange things start to happen...
Series: The world’s gonna pass me by [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080389
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. I’d hope you haunt me

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not 100% sure what sparked the idea for this, but it’s one of my favourite ones I’ve written so far!!  
> There is gonna be a second chapter to this, so please stick around!!
> 
> Check the end notes for any extra info/explanations!!
> 
> ~Enjoy

The first thing the Landlady told Geoff and Otto, when they stepped into what would be their new apartment, was that she would only be charging them rent for a two bed, as the third bedroom at the end of the corridor was always locked- for some odd reason. Because of this, she couldn’t rent it out, and she asked that they didn’t try to either.

“I have had a look inside that room, and everything seems normal, so there shouldn’t be anything to fret about,” she informed them. “We’ve tried changing the locks, but they always seem to get stuck- and the key always seems to vanish.”

This made the two slightly uneasy, but they settled for it. The apartment was new anyway, they doubted it was haunted.

—————

One night, a few weeks after moving in, Geoff got up to get a glass of water, when he saw… something.

Sat in the dark, at the top of the stairs, was a figure. He almost hadn’t seen it, had it not been for the faint orange glow of an outside streetlamp, coming through a nearby window.

As he tried to approach it, a misstep caused a floorboard to creak under his foot- making The Figure jump and turn to where the noise had come from. The two locked eyes for a few seconds, before Geoff blinked, and The Figure was gone.

When he brought up this ‘encounter’ to Otto, he posited a theory that: “Maybe it’s just your mind tricks on you, due to a lack of sleep, or something.” Which Geoff agreed with- ultimately shrugging off the ‘encounter’.

—————

A few days later, Otto noticed that a blue mug with white polka dots (that had been in the apartment when they moved in) was sitting out on the kitchen counter. He swore that he’d put away all the washing, assuming that maybe he'd just forgot about that one- before placing it back in the cabinet.

—————

After two months of being in the apartment, the pair had made a list of strange occurrences that happened more than once, which caused them to be strange.

  
The list included;

  * The blue mug with white polka dots being left out somewhere on the kitchen counter.
  * Faint singing coming from the end of corridor.
  * If the tv is left on, and the room is empty for more than 5 minutes, the channel will change to a one playing either rock or pop music, or a channel showing The Office reruns.



However, for each point made, Otto had a counterpoint;

  * One of us forgot to put it away with the rest of the washing. This happened with other mugs.
  * The house next to the room at the end of the corridor has a radio in the window, and plays music regularly.
  * The tv or aerial are wired weirdly.



—————

One afternoon, when both had returned from work early, they opened the apartment door to find that the tv was turned on, and playing music, even though Otto had made sure to turn it off before leaving.

However, that wasn’t the strangest thing they saw upon entering...

Dancing along to the song on the tv, was the same figure Geoff had seen a few weeks after they’d moved in. Except now, he got a good look at it. It looked to be a young man in his mid 20’s, wearing a tacky, colourful jumper, and black skinny jeans- which had been cuffed high enough, that they didn’t overlap the black combat boots The Figure wore- as well as some sort of pendant around its neck. And if that wasn’t enough, The Figure's hair was a pale lavender colour… oh, and he was partially see through!!

“What the fuck??!” Were the first words out of Otto’s mouth- startling both Geoff and The Figure.

The Figure stopped dead, turning to face them- before the tv shut off, and he was gone. 

“No wait, come back!” Geoff called out, but The Figure remained hidden.

From the kitchen, the sound of a mug being dragged along the counter could be heard. When the pair went to check, the blue and white dotted mug was sat out.

“What are you doing?” Otto asked, as Geoff made his way towards the sink, to fill the kettle up.

“Maybe he wants a coffee,” he replied.

“Ok, so you’re telling me that we probably just saw a… ghost?? And your first thought was to make it a drink?”

“Yeah, why else would this mug keep appearing here?”

Otto sighed, “You’re too nice, y’know that, right?” Before walking away upstairs.

—————

The apartment was silent, the only noise being the light tapping of the metal spoon on the porcelain cup. 

When he’d finished in the kitchen, Geoff made his way into the main room, turning the tv back on, and setting the drink onto the coffee table- before sitting down.

His attention on his phone was broken when he heard a faint laugh. Looking up, he saw that the channel had changed to show The Office reruns, again.

However, the laugh he heard hadn’t come from the tv. Instead, sitting on the arm chair across the room, legs flung over one of the arms, was The Figure- in all his colourful glory. Geoff silently took a photo of the scene before him, before speaking up, “Hey.”

He was expecting The Figure to disappear again, but instead he put his hand up in a waving motion, replying with,“Hey, dude.” His eyes not leaving the tv once.

Neither did or said anything else. That was until The Figure realised what had just happened, he turned his head to face Geoff- a surprised look on his face, before disappearing again.

“Hey no, wait! I’m Geoff,” he said, hoping that would entice The Figure into some sort of conversation… he was right.

“I know that, dumbass,” a voice replied, before a corresponding body reappeared on the chair. “I’ve been here since you guys moved in. The least I could do was learn your names.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah… The name’s Awsten, by the way. I’d shake your hand, or something, but… y’know,” he said, gesturing to himself and wiggling his fingers.

—————

The two continued to have a light conversation, occasionally stopping to watch the tv- until they heard Otto coming down the stairs. Both turned to face the doorway, watching as he did a double take on the main room, before pointing directly at Awsten, and exclaiming a “ _YOU!”,_ in a voice loud enough, Geoff was sure he could have raised the dead- which might have actually been possible, seeing as there was a _literal_ ghost right in front of him! 

“Hey.” Was the only thing Awsten spoke- accompanied by a salute wave. For a ghost in the company of two mortals, he seemed pretty calm about the whole situation…

“Oh, erm, ok then. That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting, but… ok,” Otto trailed off, “Just give me a few minutes to focus on what I’m seeing right now,” he said, before sitting down next to Geoff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you stick around for chapter two!!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @average-human-being
> 
> Extra info/explanations
> 
> •The blue mug with white polka dots is actually a mug I own (it’s my favourite mug)!! I used it as a place holder, but never ended up changing it.
> 
> •Awsten has said that The Office is one of his favourite shows, and you know I’m a sucker for putting in real life aspects into my writing!!
> 
> •Awsten’s outfit is the one from the Blonde music video. Ent. is my favourite album (and era), so I wanted to use that one (seeing as he’s a ghost in this, and it’s set in present times)


	2. And kick my boxes from the left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff and Otto get to know their new ghostly roommate...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing but light hearted ghost banter, and a bit of angst in this!!
> 
> See end notes for extra info/explanations!!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @average-human-being

“So let me get this straight- you used to live here, and then you died, and now you haunt this apartment?” Awsten nodded in response, “But you didn’t die here?” He shook his head.

“I think if someone died here, they would have legally had to tell us, right?” Geoff added.

“I think so, but I don't think I died here, so that’s probably why they didn’t tell you.”

“Wait, so where did you die??” Otto asked.

“I don’t know. Last thing I remember happening was my girlfriend cheated on me… but I think there was a bit of time between then and _this_ happening.” Once again gesturing to his current state.

The pair couldn’t tell if Awsten was necessarily sad about being a ghost. They assumed he was, but he seemed to hide it well.

“What’s up with that third room, at the end of the corridor?” Otto asked, changing the subject. “Was it like that when you lived here?”

“Nah, that’s my room. I’ve been keeping it closed since I reappeared here. The Landlady’s tried getting in, but I wouldn’t let her.” He smirked

“She told us she’d been in there!” Geoff exclaimed.

“Well then she’s a liar. You guess wanna see?” he said, pointing over his shoulder. “I haven’t let anyone else who’s lived here see- but you two seem cool.”

—————

The three of them stood at the end of the corridor, in front of the locked door. Geoff and Otto watched as Awsten walked straight through the door, and a quiet _‘click’_ was heard from inside- the door swung open.

“Ta-da!!” Awsten announced.

The two walked into the room, taking it in. Meanwhile, Awsten had walked over to the bed, and was sat cross legged on it, watching them.

The whole room was coated in a layer of dust- showing how long it had been since a physical being stepped foot in it. From the outside, they’d both expected to see a fairly empty room- probably containing a bed and some drawers… oh how wrong they were.

Against the right wall was a bookshelf filled with: DVD’s, books, vinyls and CD’s. On top of it, a vinyl player, a frog plush, and some other assorted belongings. Above it was a cork board with a few concert tickets, printed photos, and some Polaroid’s pinned to it. Geoff noticed that the tickets were for bands that would play on the tv, when the channels would change over.

As he stared at the photos, he noticed two recurring faces. One of them he was already acquainted with- although his hair seemed to be different colours and styles in some of them. The other person, however, he didn’t recognise- though he did look familiar.

Awsten must have noticed Geoff’s fixation on the photos, as he got up and walked over him. 

“That’s Jawn,” he said, pointing to the other person in the photos. “He’s been my best friend since highschool, and was my old roommate.” Geoff looked at Awsten as he carried on. “We’d been trying to start a band together, but things didn’t work out. He ended up quitting the band, and becoming a photographer. He actually took most of these photos!”

Geoff turned back to the board, pointing to a specific photo of the two of them- it was taken in a bathroom mirror, fake tattoos littered their arms, and their scene hairstyles were, what Geoff assumed, year appropriate. “Even that one?” He chuckled. Awsten rolled his eyes as Otto walked over and joined in on laughing at the photo.

“It was a _phase!”_ Awsten retaliated, crossing his arms over his chest and walking away.

Their eyes followed Awsten as he walked to the other side of the room, where a purple electric guitar and amp sat- like the rest of the room, they were also covered in a layer of dust. They watched as his translucent fingers motioned to strum the strings, but no noise came out. He sat back down on the bed looking defeated.

“I miss the small things, y’know? Being able to play music, change my hair colour- it’d probably be green right now if I could change it!... I just miss it,” he paused, staring off into the distance, before looking back at the guitar. “I bought that a few months before all of _this_ happened. I’d been writing some songs for my girlfriend, and wanted to record them for her… guess I never got to do that, huh?”

Geoff and Otto walked over to the bed, sitting down on either side of Awsten, their faces shared a look of sadness.

“How come all this is still here?” Otto asked, once again trying to change the subject. “How come your roommate didn’t clear all your stuff out?”

“He tried to, but I wouldn’t let him… As soon as I reappeared here, I locked the door and kept it shut. Jawn couldn’t get in, and he moved out a few months later,” he paused, “People have tried getting in, but I don’t let them.”

“How come you let us in?” Geoff asked.

“I d’know really… you two seem a lot nicer than the others. You’re quiet and don’t trash the place.” He looked towards the cork board, a small smile flashed on his face. “I trust you,” he said, before lying down on the bed, and fading out of sight.

When Geoff and Otto left the room, they made sure to close the door. This time, however, it stayed unlocked- and would for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! I left the; where, when and way that Awsten dies, up to interpretation (also bc I’m not to sure on it myself)!! I’m not planning on expanding this, but ya never know.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @average-human-being
> 
> Extra info/explanations
> 
> •I’m not too sure when Awsten and his ex broke up, I think it was late 2017, right before Ent. dropped, so it’d make sense for him to have purple hair in this (as well as the purple guitar)!!
> 
> •The frog in Awsten’s room is something he owns in real life- he mentioned it in a podcast episode (the frogs name is Lightning (I think)).
> 
> •The bathroom mirror selfie exist, I’ve seen it soooo many times (the link is in the fic, it’s the 3rd photo).
> 
> •Yes, the “It was a phase” is a reference to the Gloom Boys music video!! It seemed fitting


End file.
